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2.4: Archetypes
This sub-Chapter presents the archetype tables. Higher priority Attributes/Disciplines are listed above lower priority characteristics; their associated Skills are listed to their immediate right. Skills on the left-hand side of the row have the highest priority under a characteristic, while those on the left have lowest priority. Located immediately below the Attribute priority sets are the potential Trait sets. Each Trait set corresponds to a possible result on a 1d5 roll; the character will use the Trait set whose associated number matches the result of the roll. Finally, all tables contain a rudimentary equipment package. Because these archetype tables are designed to apply to peoples with various technological levels, none of the packages include any Starfaring Age technology. Debit Chits and Chronometers are Industrial Age technology; corresponding items can be substituted for them in the event that the character involved is from a more primitive society. Administrator It seems that no matter where one travels, one always finds someone whose job is merely to direct other people's work without doing much of it themselves. That's the job of an administrator: to direct, manage, execute, dispense and be a pain in the ass to all of their underlings. Artisan Artisans are skilled manual workers who use tools and machinery in a particular craft. They are masters of that craft, building functional objects that are oftentimes beautiful as well. Assassin In every society, there are people in positions of fame and/or power that can rally huge numbers to whatever causes they support. This usually means that there are other people that want those people permanently silenced. The assassin's job is to do the silencing by whatever means are most expedient. Athlete These are generally worthless members of society who somehow manage to con other people into thinking it's worth paying to go see them exercise. Athletes are people who actively participate in physical sports; they are really little more than glorified players of games, though there's no denying their awesome physical prowess. Barkeeper Most societies need places where people can go to relax and forget their worries for a while. Barkeepers perform this function through the skill of bartending, mixing liquid chemicals (particularly those that cause intoxication when consumed in excess) in just the right proportions to generate various drinks. Bounty Hunter Where there is law and order, there are going to be those out there who are doing their level best to run away from it. Some members of society can turn a tidy profit by doing what it takes to collect rewards on those who are fleeing from the law, not to mention the rewards offered up by less scrupulous members of society to catch people fleeing from them. Business Owner Commerce is the very life blood of most societies; without it, individuals within it would have to figure out how and where to get the things they need to survive all on their own, spending time that could otherwise be used for other endeavors. Some members of society specialize in the procurement of a particular set of goods; these individuals then often open up their own shops to distribute those goods and make money in the process. Clerk Clerks are ubiquitous members of society found in any office space or running the cash registers at any store. They work with records, accounts and letters and are usually the ones doing any actual work while the owners and administrators are profiting off of them and making policies that ultimately will negatively affect their jobs. Commander Commanders are senior-ranking military officers, typically found in command of large units of people. These are the guys that make all of the command-level decisions for a group, who send their soldiers off to achieve strategic objectives or die trying. Con Artist A common philosophy amongst most civilizations is that "there is a sucker born every minute". Con artists are unscrupulous people who take advantage of the fear and gullibility of others to gain their confidence, usually in an attempt to procure something for themselves. Most have no concern whatsoever for any feelings hurt by their ultimate and inevitable betrayal; those who do often don't stay in the business long enough to see a profit. Courtesan In aristocratic societies or circles one can sometimes find courtesans. Courtesans are kept mistresses of powerful noblemen, members of a royal family or perhaps even the sovereign himself. They're really high-class prostitutes, gathering fabulous wealth in exchange for their highly biological services. Crime Lord Crime takes on many forms in all societies. While most crimes are acts of passion committed by individuals, there are those out there who would use criminal means to gather wealth and power for themselves. The Crime Lord, though almost never referred to by that title, is the head of an organization dedicated to such a purpose. Debutant Every society has its worthless members who don’t work because they choose not to or don't have to because their family has got so much damn money. Oftentimes these people have absolutely no understanding of how society actually functions; they're simply content to stick their olfactory organs up at it. Deckhand Most professions require some folks to perform the back-breaking manual labor. For nautical professions (and by extension any starfaring professions in those societies that have them), those jobs are reserved for deckhands. They can best be thought of as skilled laborers with particular emphasis on the technical and mechanical aspects of their jobs. Diplomat Diplomats are people who are accredited to officially represent a government or organization in its relations with other entities. They therefore perform a vital political role in society by making sure things go the way their head of state wants them to go. Doctor Doctors are individuals who spent far too much time in their society's higher seats of learning with the goal of making as much money as possible. With this goal in mind, doctors have been highly educated in the medicinal disciplines and possess the highest degree of knowledge and skill possible when it comes to their application. Ostensibly. Drunkard Drunkards are unique individuals that spend their free time converting their hard earned cash into intoxicating beverages, which they then use to poison themselves to a point of near death, usually also at the cost of any meaningful relationships with family and friends. They may be skilled at what they do for a living, but they're largely good for nothing after hours. Engineer Engineers are individuals who devote themselves to finding technical solutions to physical problems. In Starfaring Age societies, engineers are primarily in charge of maintaining a capital ship's engines and repairing any critical systems. In a sense, they are highly skilled, highly educated mechanics. Entertainer The need to distract oneself from the humdrum routine of one's life is a constant throughout most societies. Some members of those societies take it upon themselves to make it a point to distract others; these individuals usually have one field in which they specialize, such as acting. Executioner In societies that practice capital punishment, there's gotta be a guy that throws the switch, swings the weapon or pulls the trigger. Executioners are individuals whose job is simply to kill people, albeit those whom their society has deemed unworthy to continue living in it. The job probably pays well but one can't help but wonder about the mental state of such individuals... Farmer Farmers are the unsung backbone of most societies. Their job is to oversee the growth and development of edible flora, protecting it from being consumed by pests until it can be harvested for consumption. In most societies, farmers provide the bulk of whatever food is available. Fence Certain criminals make a living by stealing valuable objects from other people; once they're obtained, it only remains to try and convert the item into cold, hard cash. Fences are unscrupulous businessmen whose job it is to find buyers for the stolen merchandise, usually making a little money for themselves in the transaction. Fisherman Some societies have developed on worlds with a large hydrospheric coverage and a high biodensity. These societies often send out individuals on seaworthy craft to gather certain lifeforms native to the hydrosphere as a source of food. The money for the work is good, which is fortunate considering the high level of personal risk involved. Gambler Gamblers are people who attempt to convert their hard-earned money into even more through playing games of chance, either with other individuals or through established gaming houses. Gamblers have a tendency to be flamboyant and extroverted (at least those who are worth their salt). Unlucky gamblers have a tendency to become vagrants rather quickly. Hired Gun Whereas mercenaries are professional soldiers of fortune, a hired gun can be any individual who makes a living by shooting at others. These people tend to be highly skilled in gunplay and are usually either hired on by a small community to “take care” of small-time thieves or as a cheap assassin. Housemate Sometimes households in a society can make do with the income provided by just one adult member. If there is another adult member in the household, it usually then falls on them to take care of the household itself. This typically includes all the manual labor involved in keeping it running as well as the transportation of any offspring. Innkeeper In any society, people travel to other places for many different reasons. Sometimes their travels take them far enough away from their place of residence that they are unable to return as the end of a day grows near, putting them in need of temporary shelter; innkeepers are individuals who operate businesses that provide it. Interpreter People have a tendency to communicate in their own local dialects and languages. Sometimes, peoples who don't speak the same language need to interact with each other and for whatever reason reliable translation technologies aren't available. In those cases, it's the job of interpreters to translate and facilitate successful communication. Journalist A journalist is a pain in the ass whose living is made by butting in on other people's lives - often during their darkest hours - and reporting whatever they find to the general public, using the media format in which they happen to specialize. Such information is typically called "the news" or current events. Occasionally the information journalists gather is important in letting people know what decisions others have made that will affect their lives; more often, it's merely a dark form of entertainment. Laborer Laborers represent most of the population in any society. These are the people who do the bulk of the manual labor, getting no credit and precious little pay in the process. They may either be largely uneducated and unskilled or very educated and just unlucky. Lawyer It takes someone with a sadistic mind to come up with the rules that govern society and someone with an even more sadistic mind to interpret all the aspects of them. When a member of society finds themselves in violation of those rules, they have no recourse but to turn to one of the latter to try to resolve matters in their favor. Martial Artist Martial artists aren't found in all societies; notably they're missing in cultures whose members lack Motor and Propulsive Appendages. They are masters of unarmed defensive combat, exerting unbelievable control over mind and body to perform unparalleled physical feats. Mayor A mayor is a special breed of politician or lawyer. A purely municipal figure, a mayor is the duly appointed or elected leader of a community and acts as the head of its executive branch of government. They are charged with making sure all local ordinances are enforced properly. The actual level of power they actually wield, of course, depends on the politics within a specific community. Mechanic A mechanic is a skilled worker capable of building or repairing machinery. They are a specialized form of technician with a lot of hands-on experience. Mechanics are found in any society where a large amount of machinery is present, where it's their job to keep it running smoothly and to fix it when it's not. Medic "Medic" is an abbreviated, military form of the word "paramedic". Though the term's origin is military, its usage in this context is as someone who is trained to medically stabilize individuals outside of a hospital setting and to prepare them for transport to a medical facility. In a medical emergency, they are often the first help a victim is likely to see. Mercenary While in the broadest sense of the term all members of society are mercenaries, in this context a mercenary is an individual who is hired to do a job and whose sole motivation for doing it is private gain; these jobs usually but not always involve armed conflict. By their very nature, mercenaries tend to have a broader knowledge and skill base than most other professions. Merchant A merchant is a more generalized form of shopkeeper, business owner and trader all rolled up into one. Their purpose is to provide commodities to potential buyers, making as much profit for themselves in the process. Whereas traders, business owners and shopkeepers stay in one place, merchants remain mobile and travel from community to community. Monk Religion is one of the three basic foundations of all societies (the others being mechanics and energy). In most of these societies are individuals whose faith in their religion is so strong that they choose to devote their lives to its service. Usually, their service comes with steep sacrifices of physical comfort and material wealth. Musician In societies whose members have auditory organs, there are those individuals who make it a point to generate sounds that are pleasing to others (or at least to themselves). These sounds are often used as a form of entertainment in those societies and oftentimes subconsciously evoke deep emotions in whoever listens to them. Nobleman Noblemen are members of an aristocracy, found most often in societies ruled by an absolute monarchy but present in almost any civilization. They are usually (though not always) rich, powerful and domineering over the subjects they rule. Basically they're glorified landlords. In traditional role-playing settings, they are more often than not the patrons of an adventuring group. Nurse Not every medical situation calls for the expertise of a doctor or the emergency training of a medic. Long-term medical care is provided by nurses in most cases, who are medical practitioners skilled in overseeing the day to day operations of a medical facility. In some cases, they may be better at their jobs and know more than the doctors who actually run the facility. Officer In military circles, an officer is an individual who has some authority over others but is not necessarily in charge of making command-level decisions for an entire group. They tend to have more education than a common soldier, though whether or not that's an asset to a military operation depends entirely on who's asked. Pharmacist Medicines can be tricky business; if an individual is given the wrong medicine for a particular physiological problem, the result can be fatal. Pharmacists are individuals whose job it is to make sure people receive as much of the correct medicines as they need in order to recover from their ailments. Pilot Pilots are individuals who devote their lives into operating either a particular make or an entire class of vehicles. They can be found in civil fields offering short-range transportation to individuals (particularly travelers) for a nominal fee. In military fields, their expertise is used to support troops on the ground or at sea; in space, they are lauded foot soldiers, taking the battle directly to the enemy in their legendary machines. Pimp The universe's oldest profession is not exempt from the needs of management. When a group of prostitutes want to work in the same area, it helps for them to have someone to keep them from competing with one another for the same customers and to have someone around to shake down any deadbeats occasionally. Pirate The difference between a pirate and a mercenary is largely one of semantics; for those targeted, a soldier of fortune is considered a pirate. These individuals make a living by preying off of shipping, stealing money, valuable cargo and anything else that they deem valuable. They are pariahs in most societies as a result of their nefarious activities. Politician All societies function on rules and therefore need someone to maintain them and make sure they are properly enforced. Unfortunately, this job usually falls to the politician. Ostensibly, they are there to make life as easy as possible for the whole of society. More often, however, the policies they set in place only tend to line their own pocketbooks. Priest Most religious orders are organized such that there are many different levels, ranging from the empire-wide congregation all the way down to the local house of worship. Priests are the individuals in charge at the local level, providing counsel for those who need guidance with their faith and acting as a leader for the local flock. Programmer Computers are notoriously stupid machines; to get them to accomplish even the simplest of tasks, it takes a very detailed, error-free set of instructions given in a proper order. The job of the programmer is to write these instructions, test the results and go back to fix the inevitable mistakes rather than succumbing to the desire to put a discount brick through the damn computer. Prospector The economies of many cultures are based upon the availability of certain minerals, usually ones that are comparatively rare, such as precious metals. Some individuals decide to strike out on their own with what equipment they can carry to go looking for those materials in nature. Those that are successful return to society rich; those that aren't either return disillusioned or die in the attempt. Prostitute All creatures are driven by the need to procreate and continue their species. The physiology of some species, however, is such that they can engage in the procreative act for purposes other than reproduction. When one can't find a suitable partner, one can almost always try to find someone they can pay to engage in the necessary act whether doing so is legal in their society or not. Radioman Societies that have developed telecommunications have a need for individuals whose job it is to operate and maintain the necessary equipment. Radiomen perform this job and act as a single voice for the organization running the equipment. In Starfaring Age societies, radiomen can often be found functioning as dedicated communications officers aboard capital ships. Rancher Most societies that include prey animals as part of their overall diet ultimately develop the field of ranching at some point; this usually involves fencing off a large area and actually raising a herd of prey animals until the majority of them are large enough to be sold for a profit to a slaughterhouse. Ranchers oversee this process, operating and maintaining the land necessary for the animals they have in their inventory. Researcher Scientific advancement doesn't just happen; it requires the dedication of individuals who are willing to do what it takes to try out new ideas and new theories. Researchers do just that. In Starfaring Age societies, researchers can be seen travelling the space lanes as science officers aboard capital ships; on the ground, they're most common in academic settings. Scholar A scholar is an individual who is attempting to better their life through attaining as high of a level of education as they are capable of managing. For some, this effort will ultimately lead them to notoriety, fame and heights of excellence. For others, it's ultimately a wasted effort that more often than not leads them to heights of poverty instead. Scout Many military operations are made or broken depending on what one side knows about the other. When hard and fast data is needed on the enemy's disposition, scouts are sent in to perform covert reconnaissance work and then report back what they've learned. It's exceptionally lonely work, not to mention highly dangerous. Security Officer All societies have rules and as a result have individuals who think that they don't apply to them. When someone actually breaks a rule, it is the job of the security officer to go and apprehend that individual by whatever means are necessary. Usually they're also expected to do what it takes to prevent the rules from being broken in the first place. Settler Communities begin life through the actions of individuals. It takes a very rugged individual to pick up whatever stakes they have in a society, move out to a spot in the wilderness and try to make a new home there. Establishing a new community can be very hard, lonely and dangerous, but it's also very rewarding if it's ultimately successful. Shopkeeper Sometimes a business is so successful that its owner can afford to branch out to other communities. The owner cannot be in all the communities in which their business runs, so they will oftentimes hire a shopkeeper to manage a particular branch. Shopkeepers run the branch office without owning it. Smithy Societies that work with metals need dedicated individuals who have studied ores and know how to work with them. Smithies do this kind of work for a living: working in sweltering hot shops and pouring their labor in an effort to turn raw pieces of the ground into something that can ultimately be valued by all of society. Soldier Soldiers are poor sods whose job it is to go out and try to make enemy soldiers die for their country when all the politicians decide they can't solve an issue by any means other than force. They are the lowest members of any military echelon, the ones that perform the labors of war and whose lives are considered the most expendable. Spy Spies are people that do their level best to gather information on a foreign power, organization or even an individual while garnering as little attention to themselves as possible. Their job is to watch, examine, analyze, report and get the hell out once their job is done. Surveyor Engineering any structure takes precision calculations of the surrounding terrain, no matter how complex it is. Surveyors make a living by using occasionally complex mathematics to determine the exact positions and dimensions of objects on a planet's surface. Without their efforts, building high-quality structures would be impossible. Teacher Education is an important cornerstone of most societies; without it, there would be no one with the knowledge needed to carry out advanced tasks. It is the job of the teacher to impress and to impart knowledge upon their students to the best of their ability. Though many societies recognize the important job teachers do, they usually aren't willing to give them the funding they need to actually do it. Technician A technician is an individual who studies, professes or practices the body of tools and implements produced by a given society, usually specializing in a very specific area. Technicians can be found anywhere where knowledge of how a piece of technology works can be vital to its continued operation. Thief Many societies hold to the questionable idea that the accumulation of material goods is something to be valued. This sometimes produces individuals who decide that the best way to further their own wealth is to take it from others illegally. While many of these individuals often get caught, others are skilled enough at it to actually make a living. Thug Thugs are burly individuals who are often employed by criminal organizations. Their job is a fairly simple one: if anybody crosses someone higher up in the organization, they are dispatched to find that person and to express their boss's deep dissatisfaction with them. Usually this involves some manner of violent treatment. Trader Traders are individuals who provide commodities to potential buyers. They usually don't leave the area in which they conduct their trade and work in concert with other traders in an attempt to maximize each other's profits. In Starfaring Age societies, traders are tasked with the job of moving commodities in between worlds through specialized trading posts licensed by local planetary governments. Vagrant Most societies have individuals living within them that, for whatever reason, cannot work. These individuals will often find themselves homeless, jobless and penniless once their money runs out; they are then forced to perform whatever actions are necessary in order for them to survive. They are usually considered the lowest members of society, on par with criminals. Zookeeper Zookeepers have a fairly unique job; they are tasked with the care of an array of animal lifeforms, providing food and medical care for them and making sure that their habitats remain optimally suitable for their habitation. The animals themselves may be in an environment well outside their norms, placed in specialized parks as a peculiar form of entertainment. ---- NEXT: 3.0 Skills PREVIOUS: 2.3 Creating Characters TOP ---- Category:WCRPG